Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). You can find the original statement in Spanish further below. Press Release The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), The Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala (ODHAG), and the Institute of Comparative Studies in [...]
Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). You can find the original statement in Spanish further below. PRESS RELEASE WE DEMAND THE FULFILLMENT OF THE HUMAN RIGHT TO JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE AND CRIMINALIZATION Today, DECEMBER 10, 2025, on INTERNATIONAL HUMAN [...]
Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). You can find the original statement in Spanish further below. PRESS RELEASE The Association for Justice and Reconciliation - AJR - and the Office of Human Rights of the Archdiocese of Guatemala - ODHAG-, In light [...]
Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). You can find the original statement in Spanish further below. // Puedes encontrar el comunicado original en español más abajo. The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR)and the Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala [...]
Ethan was in Guatemala as an Internacionalista with NISGUA during 2024–2025. They wrote this final letter in January 2025, reflecting on their experience and the people and movements that left a deep impression on them. On November 28th, 2024, the First Court of Appeals (whose members all have connections [...]
Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). You can find the original statement in Spanish further below. // Puedes encontrar el comunicado original en español más abajo. Coordinating Committee of Ixil Organizations With the energy of our grandmothers and grandfathers of the ka’va’l [...]
Includes: The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) denounces the dismissal of the tribunal in the Maya Ixil genocide case against Manuel Benedicto Lucas García. They point to this derailment of the case as blatant impunity and will continue to fight for justice. Organizers from the Departmental Assembly of [...]
[Español a continuación] As the Maya Ixil Genocide case against ex-general Manuel Benedicto Lucas García comes to a close, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation -AJR- and The Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala -ODHAG- declare to the public, national and international audience: WE ARE APPROACHING A [...]
COMUNICADO DE PRENSA 15 de agosto de 2024 PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA Contacto: Michelle Liang, Acompañante Internacional, NISGUA internacionalista@nisgua.org | +502 4873 4422 Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala - El lunes 12 de agosto de 2024, las abogados defensoras del ex general Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, acusado de genocidio, desaparición forzada y [...]
August 15, 2024 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact: Michelle Liang, International Accompanier, NISGUA internacionalista@nisgua.org | +502 4873 4422 Guatemala City, Guatemala - On Monday August 12, 2024, the defense lawyers of ex-general Manuel Benedícto Lucas García, accused of genocide, forced disappearance and crimes against humanity of the Maya Ixil people, [...]
Photo by NISGUA. Defense witnesses testify in the Ixil Genocide Trial. Tuesday, July 16. Weekly Update for July 15-18 Monday, July 15, hearing 47 On Monday the 15th, the lawyers of Manuel Benedicto Lucas García presented 2 witnesses on behalf of the defendant. At the request of the [...]
Tuesday July 2nd, Hearing 41 Expert witness Alejandro Valencia Villa was presented himself by videoconference to ratify his 2015 expert report, based on International Humanitarian Criminal Law. The expert witness has previously worked in Guatemala, in the cases of the Diario Militar, Molina Theissen and the Chichupac Massacre. One [...]
Martes 25 de junio, audiencia 39 Al inicio de la audiencia la licenciada de los querellantes,. Jovita Tzul solicitó a los Jueces que, debido a que se le otorgó un amparo a la defensa de Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, con el que se dejó fuera el testimonio del Perito [...]
Tuesday June 25th, hearing 39 At the beginning of the hearing, the plaintiffs' attorney, Jovita Tzul, requested that the judges, due to the fact that the defense of Manuel Benedicto Lucas García was granted an injunction which left out the testimony of expert witness Benjamín Carleoni, analyze and rule [...]
Martes 18 de junio, audiencia 37 “Lo vi con mis propios ojos y sentí con mi propio cuerpo todo el dolor que causó el ejército” Tiburcio Utuy (✝) En el día 37 del juicio, el Ministerio Público presentó cuatro anticipos de prueba de sobrevivientes, cuyos testimonios fueron [...]
Monday June 10th, 2024, Hearing 34 "Repression also reached the civilian population that the army considered sympathetic or collaborator to the guerrilla." Kate Doyle On Monday, attorney Peralta, defense of Benedicto Lucas Garcia, began her interrogation of expert witness Kate Doyle. The expert explained the legal steps involved in [...]
Monday, May 13th, 2024 “Today the hearing was suspended due to a problem in the judicial branch network, which was defined as “unusual”. This made it difficult to connect the courtroom with the Military Medical Center, where the defendant, the retired general Manual Benedicto Lucas García, is being held. [...]
Hearings accompanied by AJR Rabinal region Monday May 6th, 2024 Diego Avilés Toma, Cajixay, San Juan Cotzal Witness Diego Avilés recounted that his village was burned by elements of the Guatemalan army on January 8, 1982. The witness heard shouts that the army was coming and he hid [...]
On May 10, 2023, a press conference was held during the activities to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the sentence against Efraín Ríos Montt in 2013, for genocide and crimes against the duties of humanity committed against the Maya Ixil people. At the press conference, victims and survivors of [...]
![[Alt text] Sobre una pared amarilla hay un empapelado en blanco y negro de rostros de personas desaparecidas durante el Conflicto Armado Interno en Guatemala, sobre estos la imagen de Monseñor Gerardi en blanco y negro, socializado hombre con lentes y con su mano sosteniendo su mandibula. Sobre él, un arco de claveles en color rojo y la frase en letras blancas y amarillas: “Gerardi Vive”. [Alt text] On a yellow wall there is a black and white wallpaper of faces of people who disappeared during the Internal Armed Conflict in Guatemala, on these the image of Monsignor Gerardi in black and white, socialized man with glasses and with his hand holding his jaw. Above him, an arch of carnations in red and the phrase in white and yellow letters: "Gerardi Vive".](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design-320x202.png)
On April 26th, relatives of victims disappeared during the Internal Armed Conflict, honor the legacy of Monsignor Juan José Geradi Conedera. 25 years after his murder, his voice is still alive among the People, called to continue the struggles to vindicate memory, truth and justice in Guatemala. We [...]
Claire (they/them), former NISGUA Internacionalista, wrote this update during their time as a volunteer with NISGUA. Dear NISGUA family, Almost exactly one year after leaving staff, I’m honored to come back for a month as an accompanier. Frankly, it's a disturbing political scene to return to. You [...]
![[ENG] Photo of a red and white protest sign that reads "Never Again, Rivers of blood in Guatemala" behind a wall that is the entrance of a church. [ESP] Fotografía de una manta dolor rojo que en blanco dice "Nunca más rios de sangre en Guatemala" en la puerta de entrada a una iglesia](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/nb25-320x202.jpeg)
Over the past four years, the struggle for justice in Guatemala has endured a series of alarming setbacks that call us to maintain and sustain our solidarity with those we have stood beside for over four decades. During Giammattei’s presidency, the Pact of the Corrupt and their powerful economic [...]
PAST IMPUNITY IS PRESENT IMPUNITY 43 years after the massacre committed at the Spanish Embassy, the undersigned organizations, members of the No More Genocide Coalition, which brings together organizations of relatives of victims, victims themselves of the direct repression committed by the Guatemalan Army in our communities against the [...]
ON TRIAL FOR GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY After almost forty years of the perpetuation of crimes against humanity such as genocide, Chief of Operations General Luis Enrique Mendoza García was sent to trial for genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Maya Ixil people due to sufficient [...]
Ixil Genocide Case Bulletin 04 02/10/22 DEFENSE ATTORNEY ASKS THAT THE AJR AND CALDH NOT BE CONSTITUTED AS DEFINITIVE PLAINTIFFS IN THE CASE "We oppose the acceptance of the request made by the AJR and CALDH entities to be definitively constituted as associated plaintiffs in the present process and [...]
Following the recent ruling in the Ixil genocide case late last month, NISGUA invited its base to reflect on the significance of the decision for members of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) with the organization's president, Edwin Canil. Edwin spoke about survivors' long struggle to break [...]
We will use this genocide verdict to leave a good tree planted, with strong roots -- the fruits of which will be enjoyed by our children. - Edwin Canil, President of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, survivor and plaintiff organization On September 26, in a split, 2-1 decision, [...]
Today, the trial against former Head of Military Intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez is expected to reach a verdict. As a key player under Efraín Ríos Montt’s 1982-1983 dictatorship in Guatemala, Rodríguez Sánchez stands accused of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Ixil people. Over the past year, [...]
Next week, a verdict is expected in the retrial of José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, former head of military intelligence under General José Efraín Ríos Montt’s 1982-1983 dictatorship in Guatemala. Rodríguez Sánchez faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for the particular role he played in classifying the entire [...]
"We're motivated to come here - come and listen, to see whether or not there will be justice in Guatemala." Today, the genocide retrial against former head of military intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez moved into powerful closing arguments, where plaintiffs synthesized key points in the [...]
Three Ixil survivors lift up the 2013 sentence in the last day of the retrial against Ríos Montt, following his death. Photo credit: CALDH On April 1, 2018, former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt died of a heart attack at the age of 91. In his death, [...]
On April 1, 2018, former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt died from a heart attack at the age of 91. Having initially been convicted in 2013 of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Ixil people, he died under house arrest facing a retrial. Today, survivors organized with the [...]
On Sunday, April 1, 2018, former Guatemalan de facto dictator Efraín Ríos Montt died of a heart attack. At the time of his death, he was being retried for genocide and crimes against humanity, after initially being convicted in 2013. Read the following statement by the Center for Human [...]
"Let's respect the word of the people." Original statement in Spanish below. The Ixil genocide case retrial was moved to Santa María Nebaj for this week, following plaintiffs’ request for the judges to hear testimony in the region against former de facto dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt and former [...]
The Ixil genocide case retrial was moved to Santa María Nebaj for this week, following plaintiffs' request for the judges to hear testimony in the region against former de facto dictator Ríos Montt and former head of military intelligence, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez. Antonio Caba Caba, a survivor and [...]
Photo credit: Jose Rodriguez After a holiday recess, the Ixil genocide case retrial will be heard again today. As Ixil witnesses come forward to once more share their experience of genocide publicly, they are surrounded by the supportive presence of members of the AJR. However, the AJR members [...]
In the midst of the ongoing genocide retrial of José Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), and the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) published a press release in the Guatemalan newspaper, El Periódico, to mark [...]
Young Ixil university students stand in solidarity with genocide survivors outside of court.Photo credit: Ixil University students, Chemol txumb'al, FUNDEBASE, y AJR Friday, December 1, marked the seventh trial date since the case for genocide against Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez was reopened on [...]
Today, Survivors of massacres in the 80s from Chimaltenango traveled to participate in the trial against Rodríguez Sánchez for the Ixil genocide. The AJR (Association for Justice and Reconciliation) is made up of survivors from 5 regions in Guatemala and solidarity between communities has been their foundation since [...]
On October 13, the Ixil genocide trial is set to open once again against former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez, former head of military intelligence, in the second attempt to retry the case after the 2013 trial, verdict, and sentence convicting Ríos Montt of genocide. While [...]